A New Beginning

Citadel City

Citadel City is a bustling metropolis surrounding the titanic Citadel, an ancient magical tower left behind by an extinct civilization. In the short two decades since its founding, Citadel City has gone from an expedition landing camp to a multi-national colonization effort. Ruled over by a council made up of the heads of several important organizations and the Origin Houses, Citadel City is also the hub of the island-continent Vaekanas’ exploration. Although the City has been built and refined for 20 years, very little of Vaekanas is explored, let alone settled, due to it’s harsh and dangerous magical landscape.

The city is split into six sectors at ground level, laid out in a circle around the massive chasm surrounding the Citadel itself. Each of these sectors are policed by a different one of the Origin Houses, organizations that claim to have been involved with the founding of the City. Reports vary on whether they were directly involved with the foundation, or they just got in early enough to claim power that no one else had. Each house controls a different aspect of the city’s economy, and each house has remained profitable enough for the others and for the city as a whole that any push to change that power balance of the council has been vetoed by the other members.

THEORIGINHOUSES

House Aresa, who runs Adventuerer’s Guild. While mostly a formality, as adventurers can operate outside the guild if they so desire, the most profitable jobs come through the guild. Those who want to be sure their employer is legit, and who want to find people to party with will go through the Guild. Most of the expeditions exploring Vaekanas run through House Aresa.

House Feringdal, who runs the Merchant’s Guild and operates the city’s Banks. Their money comes from the day-to-day operation of such.

House Leridar, known as The Noble House, whos funding primarily comes from overseas. Leridar is an exclusive club for only the super-rich aristocrats from around the world come to Citadel City to join the political games and venture for profit.

House Kerrier, “perfectly legitimate buisnessmen”, have ties to black markets and organized crime the world over.

House Voris makes money through a maintained military. Most of the guards patrolling the city and protecting the smaller farming towns on the city outskirts are just contracted Voris men.

House Oridar, the house of misfit people, if you can call them such. House Oridar members are generally creatures that are scarcely accepted in human society. Bugbears, Tieflings, Kobolds, you name it, Oridar probably has some. While being an origin house, many of the residents of Oridar’s district live in poverty, with nowhere else to turn. They make their money by having their finger in every piece of the city, however many people in the city feel like they tolerate Oridar more than work with them.

The other parts of the council are made up or representatives from the Order Arcanum and Order Mysterium. Both are world-spanning organizations dedicated to archiving and researching magic. The Order Arcanum focuses on all things arcane magic, and the Order Mysterium focus on all things divine. These organizations are trusted and respected in most nations of the world, and have members all over the place. Neither answer to a particular nation.